ES2934709T3 - Support system of a veterinary clinic - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and techniques are provided to support a veterinary practice. In addition, systems and techniques for the collection and display of animal welfare information are provided. Animal welfare data related to a single animal patient or a group of animal patients is collected and then displayed at a desired remote location or mobile device so that a veterinarian can review the information. (Automatic translation with Google Translate, without legal value)

Description

DESCRIPTION

Support system of a veterinary clinic

technical field

This disclosure relates generally to the collection and display of information to support a veterinary practice. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to the collection of animal welfare information and data over a network, and the display of the collected information.

Background

Remote monitoring of animal patients allows veterinarians to track welfare information over time, so the vet can identify problems that may not be apparent when the animal visits the veterinary office. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide improved systems and procedures for collecting and displaying animal welfare information for a plurality of animal patients to veterinary professionals. Such systems and procedures may also desirably provide an improved means for efficiently running a veterinary practice. Document US 2013/218592 discloses an electronic veterinary office management system that allows electronic communication between the veterinary office and its clients. WO 2007/129917 discloses an animal monitoring system in which the animal wears a device in communication with an electronic network and a website that provides the veterinarian with access to data stored from the monitoring system.

Brief summary

The above and other needs are met by aspects of the present disclosure which provide a digital web portal to support a veterinary clinic. The digital web portal includes a processor and a display device in communication with the processor and has a graphical user interface. A plurality of actionable icons are displayed on the graphical user interface. Actionable icons are associated with a plurality of business-related functions for running a veterinary clinic, with each actionable icon for accessing an associated portlet and displaying additional information associated with the respective function of a veterinary clinic in the graphical user interface. user. Therefore, according to the present invention there is provided a veterinary clinic support system, the system comprising:

an electronic network (100);

an animal device (101) carried by an animal and in communication with the electronic network (100), the animal device configured to collect welfare data from the animal and transmit the collected welfare data over the network (100) electronics;

at least one veterinary device (102) in communication with the electronic network (100), the veterinary device (102) being configured to receive and display welfare data received or processed through the electronic network (100); wherein the veterinary device (102) comprises:

a processor in communication with the electronic network (100) and controlled by a plurality of instructions stored in a memory, the memory being in communication with the processor,

a display device in communication with the processor and having a graphical user interface on which a plurality of actionable icons (400) are displayed, the actionable icons (400) being associated with a plurality of business-related functions for the operation of a veterinary clinic, each icon (400) being actionable to access an associated portlet and display additional information associated with the respective function of a veterinary clinic in the graphical user interface,

an animal segmentation module configured to filter and segment a plurality of individual animal records from an animal record database containing animal welfare data received from the device (104) of the animal owner, and a messaging module configured for a user to compose and send a message based on the segmented animal records;

an animal owner device (104) in communication with the electronic network (100) and configured to send welfare data to the processor;

characterized in that the animal device has a biocompatible sensor, and the welfare data collected from the animal is related to compliance with a veterinarian-prescribed regimen of a prescribed medication for the animal, in which the processor is configured to generate and send an alert to at least one veterinary device when the animal fails to comply with said veterinarian-prescribed regimen of prescribed medication.

Various aspects of the present disclosure provide advantages, as detailed herein.

Brief description of the drawings

Therefore, having described various embodiments of the present disclosure in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system and environment for collecting, processing, and displaying information in support of a veterinary clinic, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure; Figure 2 is a screenshot of a veterinary interface for reviewing information related to a veterinary clinic, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure;

Figure 3 is a page schematic of a veterinary interface for reviewing information related to a veterinary clinic, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure;

Figures 4-12 are screenshots of a veterinary interface for reviewing information related to a veterinary clinic, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

Figure 13 is a schematic view of a plurality of actionable icons for a mobile application capable of providing animal welfare information to a veterinary clinic support system; Figures 14-29 are screenshots of an animal owner's device capable of inputting information relating to the welfare data of a subject animal, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure;

Figure 30 is a screenshot of a veterinary interface for reviewing information related to a veterinary clinic, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure;

Figure 31 is a screenshot of a veterinary interface for reviewing information related to a veterinary clinic, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure;

Figure 32 is an image of an animal owner's device depicting a screenshot showing information received from a veterinary clinic support system, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure;

Figure 33 is a screenshot of an animal owner device capable of receiving information from a veterinary clinic support system, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure;

Figure 34 is a screenshot of a veterinary interface for reviewing information related to a veterinary clinic, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure;

Figures 35-37 are page schematics of a veterinary interface for reviewing information related to a veterinary clinic, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure; and

Figure 38 is a screenshot of a veterinary interface for reviewing information related to a veterinary clinic, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure.

Detailed description of the disclosure

Various aspects of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some but not all aspects of the disclosure are shown.

The procedures, systems, and devices provided herein can be implemented to offer a portfolio of electronic products and digital solutions to help veterinarians improve medical value for their animal patients, expand their customer base, and increase productivity. According to some aspects, a web portal can be implemented to provide such digital solutions to a veterinarian for efficiently running a veterinary clinic.

A veterinary clinic support system may include a processor controlled by instructions stored in memory. For example, the transceiver assembly may include and be controlled by one such processor, and the remote server may be controlled by another such processor. The memory may be random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, or any other memory, or combination thereof, suitable for storing control software or other instructions and data.

Some of the functions performed by the support system of a veterinary clinic are described with reference to flowcharts and/or block diagrams. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that functions, operations, decisions, etc. All or a portion of each block, or a combination of blocks, of the flowcharts or block diagrams may be implemented as computer program instructions, software, hardware, firmware, or combinations thereof.

Those skilled in the art will also readily appreciate that the instructions or programs defining the functions of the present disclosure can be delivered to a processor in many forms, including, but not limited to, information stored permanently on non-recordable storage media (for example, read-only memory devices within a computer, such as ROM, or devices readable by a computer I/0 element, such as CD-ROM or DVD disks), information stored in alterable ways on recordable storage media ( floppy disks, removable flash drives, and hard drives) or information transmitted to a computer over communication media, including a wired or wireless computer network. In addition, the instructions or programs may be provided as or otherwise on a non-transient computer-readable medium, which includes a hard disk, compact disc, flash memory, volatile memory, etc., but does not include a transient signal. per se.

Furthermore, while the disclosure may be performed in software, the functions necessary to implement the invention may optionally or alternatively be performed in whole or in part using firmware and/or hardware components, such as combinatorial logic, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other hardware or some combination of hardware, software and/or firmware components.

Exemplary aspects of a veterinary clinic support system will now be described with reference to the screenshots depicted in Figures 2-11, 30, 31 and 35-38. It will be appreciated that the screenshots are exemplary only, and that any desired user interface, touch interface mobile application, user element, or manipulable icons or shapes may be used to perform the disclosed procedures. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a veterinary clinic support system and environment, in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1, the system and environment may include one or more veterinary devices 102 capable of being arranged to communicate with an electronic network 100. Electronic network 100 may be the Internet, or any other combination of wired and/or wireless electronic networks.

In one aspect, each of the veterinary devices 102 may include a server, a personal computer, a tablet computer, a mobile device, a smartphone, and/or a personal digital assistant ("PDA") arranged to communicate with each other. with 100 electronic network. For example, in one embodiment, each of the veterinarian devices 102 may be a touchscreen-enabled device, such as an Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Amazon Kindle, Microsoft Surface, or any other equivalent or similar device. Each of the vet devices 102 may have a web browser or mobile browser installed for receiving and viewing content from web servers. Therefore, each of the veterinary devices 102 may be configured to receive and display data that is received, such as from animal owners, and processed, via the electronic network 100.

Figure 2 is a screenshot of a veterinary interface (eg, a graphical user interface (GUI)) for logging into a veterinary clinic support web portal. The login interface 200 may suitably limit access to data and information specific to the veterinary clinic. The login interface may have background images or other cues, which can be customized. In some cases, the login interface may also display a series of actionable icons, such as, for example, a business category icon 202, a clinical category icon 204, a marketing category icon 206, and a staff category icon 208, each representing a major category associated with the veterinary clinic. Each icon can be actionable to access an associated portlet and display additional information associated with the respective category or area (eg, clinical, marketing, business, and personal) of a veterinary practice in the veterinary interface. Each icon or its proximities may include visual and/or textual cues to provide information about each main category.

Figure 3 is a page schematic of a veterinary interface that is displayed once the veterinarian has logged into the web portal. In this particular case, the clinician icon 204 has been selected or otherwise activated by the veterinarian. Such a selection may provide the veterinarian with one or more actionable icons representing selections. secondary or subselections within the main category. For example, the clinical portlet may offer an education module and an inquiry module represented by an education indicia 302 and an inquiry indicia 304, respectively. The veterinarian may be provided with one or more launch icons 306 to access the desired module. According to some aspects, the business portlet may offer a return module and a clinic support module; the marketing portlet may offer a mobile application module and a communications module; and the personnel portlet can offer a human resources (HR) module and a reporting module.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the veterinary interface may highlight or otherwise visually distinguish the selected icon such that the remaining icons are indicated as unselected. For example, Figure 4 illustrates the business portlet as the primary category selected, at the same time as Figure. 5 illustrates the clinical portlet as the main category selected. Figure 4 illustrates the available modules that can be accessed as subcategories of the business category, while Figure 5 illustrates the available modules that can be accessed as subcategories of the clinical category (a dashboard module and a leadership module).

Figure 6 is a screenshot of a veterinary interface for viewing a dashboard 210 that displays animal profile information for each animal patient in the veterinary clinic. The information provided in panel 210 may be an abbreviation or a subset of the full information available in an animal record comprised of animal profile information for each animal. As such, selection of one of the graphical or textual icons displayed on panel 210 for a specific animal patient may cause the respective animal record to be displayed, complete with all animal record and animal profile information.

Figures 7 and 8 are screenshots of a veterinary interface displaying an animal record 220 for viewing animal profile information for a respective animal patient at a veterinary clinic. The animal profile information may be entered by an animal owner using the animal owner device 104 or by a veterinarian using the veterinary device 102 such that an animal record is created that has a unique identifier for an animal. /specific patient. Such animal profile information may include, for example, the animal's name, date of birth, species, breed, sex, spay/neuter status, and microchip identification number. The animal record may further include animal welfare information based on data received from the animal and/or the animal's owner, as will be described below.

Figures 9-12 are screenshots of a veterinary interface displaying a mobile application module available through the marketing portlet. As shown in Figure 9 , such a mobile application module may include a mobile application dashboard 230 that displays information related to predetermined key performance indicators relevant to a specific business objective or business procedure. For example, dashboard 230 may provide information such as, for example, a total number of animal records for a veterinary clinic, a total number of users (veterinarians) for a veterinary clinic, or animal patient segment information based on the species. In addition, as shown in Figure 10, the mobile application module may include a segmentation or filtering sub-module configured to allow the veterinarian to segment animal patients based on criteria, such as species, breed, sex, spay/neuter status, microchip status, etc. The segmentation submodule may provide check boxes, drop-down boxes, or other selection mechanisms that allow filtering of the animal record database upon actuation of a filter icon 308. The veterinarian can then use that segmentation or filtering to send messages directly to the animal owner's device 104. The veterinary interface may also display graphical information, such as, for example, a pie chart 310, related to the results of the applied segmentation parameters.

As shown in Figure 11, based on the filters applied during segmentation of the animal records database, the veterinarian can be presented with a messaging icon 312 (Figure 10) to access a messaging module for writing a text message that can be sent to animal owners associated with segmented animal records. As shown in Figure 12, after composing the message, the veterinarian may be requested to confirm or preview the text of the message (via a message preview icon 318) before sending it to the desired animal owners. Such confirmation may display the text as it will be seen on the animal owner's device 104, as well as display applied filters. The veterinarian may be provided with a send icon 314 that is actuatable to send the message to the respective owners of the animal or their designees. The vet is also able to cancel the message by actuating a cancel icon 316.

Figures 30 and 31 are screenshots of a veterinary interface displaying a communications module available through the marketing portlet. As shown in Figures 30 and 31, such a communications module can allow veterinarians to customize communications via, for example, email, SMS (text), and the Internet. According to some aspects, veterinarians are capable of sending alerts, announcements, and other forms of reminders or communications. Hyperlinks may also be provided to facilitate sharing on social networks. Figure 32 illustrates an animal owner device 104 that displays information received via SMS from the veterinarian, reminding the animal owner of a vaccination appointment for his animal. Figure 33 illustrates a screenshot of an animal owner's device 104 displaying information received via email from the veterinarian, reminding the animal owner of an annual health check for their animal. The email reminder message includes video content and graphic cues for the branding of the sending veterinary clinic. Figure 34 illustrates a screenshot of the veterinary interface displaying a web-based request by an animal owner for a callback regarding an animal patient.

Figures 35-37 are page schematics of a veterinary interface displaying a clinic support module available through the business portlet. As shown in Figure 35, such a clinic support module may include a business performance dashboard 250 that displays information related to predetermined key performance indicators relevant to a particular business objective or business procedure. For example, such key performance indicators may include actual business growth, business growth percentage, or actual business value. According to some aspects, certain benchmarks can be provided for filtering, so that the veterinary clinic can be compared with other clinics of similar size, location, and geography. The business performance dashboard can help veterinarians understand the performance of their clinics. Such information may be available in analytical tools. Figure 36 illustrates a page layout displaying the reportable content available to the veterinarian. In this regard, the veterinarian may be able to generate custom or standard reports related to various aspects of the veterinary clinic or business. Filtering options may be available so the vet can customize the reports to their liking. Such reports may include graphic and/or textual information, and may be downloaded, printed, or otherwise made available to the veterinarian. Figure 37 illustrates a page layout displaying text boxes 320 for entering veterinary clinic related information and/or establishing a veterinary clinic related record.

Figure 38 is a screenshot of the veterinary interface displaying a clinic support module available through the business portlet. The screenshot illustrates a reporting sub-module that can allow the veterinarian to generate various reports related to, for example, client or staff turnover, clients, consultations, or prevention. Reports can be segmented for customization using filters such as species, time frame, productivity, key performance indicators, report type, and other benchmark parameters such as geography, location, and clinic size. Drop down boxes can be used to apply filters for the generation of the desired report(s). Reports can also provide information related to key performance indicators. Although the reports can be viewed in the veterinary interface, they can also be downloaded, printed, etc. by clicking on the corresponding icons. Such reporting information may be provided to the veterinarian as a textual or graphical representation.

A human resources module accessible through the personnel portlet can be provided. The HR module can allow veterinarians to manage their staff's performance, review, and other HR functions.

As mentioned above, the support system of a veterinary clinic may receive information and/or data relating to animal welfare for an animal patient served by the veterinary clinic. Such animal welfare information or data may come from the animal owner via the animal owner's device 104, wherein such information/data is transmitted via the electronic network 100 to the veterinary application program 112, thereby so that the information is available to the veterinarian through the veterinarian device 102 in, for example, the animal registry or the marketing or clinical portlets. The information or data may be entered by the owner of the animal using the device 104 that implements a computer program product such as, for example, a mobile application. Furthermore, the animal device 101 may be worn by the animal such that data is transmitted from the animal device 101 to the animal owner's devices 104 and/or to the veterinarian's device 102, via the network 100. electronics.

In an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure, the animal owner may have a mobile application available on the animal owner's device 104 (eg, a smartphone), wherein the mobile application is capable of capturing information related to the animal. animal in question. For example, as shown in Figure 13, the mobile application may have various application modules and associated actionable icons 400 for implementing such modules. The individual modules may allow various information relating to the animal in question to be entered, such that the information may be transmitted over the electronic network 100. For example, modules may be related to flea and tick treatment, deworming appointments, medication reminders, animal registration information, time spent socializing, calendar, checkup appointments, weight checks, food and treat tracking. , time and distance tracking walks, health assessments, trends and patterns (analysis), veterinary information, play activities, and quality time. Advantageously, this animal welfare data collected by the animal owner can be shared with the veterinarian via the electronic network 100. In this regard, the veterinarian may be able to keep track of the animal patient's welfare information. This is extremely beneficial in providing better care to the animal patient. The data sent to the veterinarian can be analyzed or manipulated to provide information in a way that can improve care for the animal patient. In this way, the owner of the animal can collect and enter information related to the welfare of the animal in question, in such a way that the information and data can be shared with the support system of a veterinary clinic through the electronic network 100, to allow the veterinarian to monitor the welfare of the animal in question. In addition, the veterinarian can review this information through the support system of a veterinary clinic when the animal patient visits for a checkup, vaccination, or sick call. To this end, the veterinarian may have available a great deal of information for the treatment of the animal patient.

Figure 14-29 are various screenshots of various aspects of a mobile application available on the animal owner's device 104. For example, Figure 16 represents a display of time and distance data collected during a walk by the animal owner with the subject animal. Figure 17 represents a visualization of a map of the route followed by the animal in question. Figures 18-20 illustrate the display of data analysis based on the information entered in the mobile application modules. For example, Figure 18 graphically displays the daily distance walked over a period of time; Figure 19 graphically displays the activities of the animal; and Figure 20 graphically displays the weight change of the animal in question over a period of time.

In some cases, the data provided to the veterinarian may be based on quality of life information provided through a survey completed by the animal's owner. The survey can take the form of a questionnaire, in which the responses provided are processed and analyzed to provide the results in the form of a quality of life score that can be reviewed by the veterinarian. Such results may include information related to vitality, pain, distress, and anxiety, as they fluctuate over a designated period of time. The quality of life results can be represented graphically, as shown in Figure 8.

Referring now to the accompanying figures, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system and environment for collecting, processing, and displaying animal welfare data, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1, the system and environment may include a plurality of veterinarian devices 102 and animal owner devices 104 arranged in communication with an electronic network 100. Electronic network 100 may be the Internet, or any other combination of wired and/or wireless electronic networks.

In one embodiment, each of the veterinary devices 102 may include a server, personal computer, tablet computer, mobile device, smartphone, and/or personal digital assistant ("PDA") arranged in communication with the electronic network 100. For example, in one embodiment, each of the veterinarian devices 102 may be a touchscreen-enabled device, such as an Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Amazon Kindle, Microsoft Surface, or any other equivalent or similar device. Each of the vet devices 102 may have a web browser or mobile browser installed for receiving and viewing content from web servers. Thus, each of the veterinarian devices 102 may be configured to receive and display data that is received and processed from the animal owner's devices 104, via the electronic network 100.

In one embodiment, each of the animal owner's devices 104 may include a server, personal computer, tablet computer, mobile device, smartphone, and/or personal digital assistant ("PDA") disposed in communication with the electronic network 100. For example, in one embodiment, each of the animal owner's devices 104 may be a touch screen-enabled device, such as an Apple iPad, Samsung Galaxy, Amazon Kindle, Microsoft Surface, or any other equivalent or similar device. Each of the animal owner's devices 104 may have a web browser or mobile browser installed for receiving and viewing content from web servers. Thus, each of the animal owner's devices 104 may be configured to input and transmit data to the veterinarian's devices 102, via the electronic network 100.

The system and environment may further include an animal device 101 arranged in communication with the electronic network 100. The animal device 101 may include a combination of comfort sensors, a memory, a battery, and/or a transceiver, one or more of which may be disposed within or in communication with the animal owner's devices 104. In one embodiment, an accelerometer may be arranged in short range wireless communication, Bluetooth, radio frequency (RFID), and/or near field communications (NFC) with the animal owner's device 104, such as a mobile device carried or used by the animal owner. The animal device 101 may be connected to the electronic network 100 through a cellular network and/or a Wi-Fi network. Thus, the animal device 101 may be configured to collect welfare data from an animal, and transmit the collected welfare data over the electronic network 100.

As shown in Figure 1, a plurality of server systems 106, a browser web server 114, and/or a mobile web server 116 may also be arranged in communication with the electronic network 100. In one embodiment, server systems 106 may be configured to receive welfare data from animal owner devices 104 via electronic network 100. Any of the devices or functionality of the server systems 106, browser web server 114, and/or a mobile web server 116 may be bundled together or separate, and may be operated by a single administrative entity, or subcontracted to one or more entities, such as a web hosting entity, web storage entity, and/or cloud computing service.

As shown in the embodiment of Figure 1, the server systems 106 may include an animal welfare data analyzer 110, which may be configured to perform analysis of the received animal welfare data. Specifically, the animal welfare data analyzer 110 may be configured to analyze the received animal welfare data to track, for example, feeding activity, play activity, love activity, socialization, walking activity, or weight-bearing activity, as will be described in more detail later. These data can be analyzed based on, for example, the food consumed, the duration of the activity, the duration of the encounter, the distance covered, or the weight.

Server systems 106 may also include one or more databases 108, where the animal welfare data analyzer 110 may be configured to store received animal welfare data. Any received data may be stored in the databases 108 in an encrypted form to increase the security of the data against unauthorized access.

Server systems 106 may also include a veterinarian application program 112 that allows a veterinarian to control system parameters, such as threshold values used by animal welfare data analyzer 110 in performing analysis. The veterinarian application program 112 also displays data to the veterinarian and allows him to select the types of data to display, the time periods of the data to display, the levels of detail of the data to display, and other operating parameters of the system. For example, the vet can select a start and end time around the activity followed. In response to a query from the veterinarian, the veterinarian application program 112 can obtain and display data from the databases 108. If the requested data is not available in the databases 108, or if the requested data is not available in the database 108 at the level of detail requested by the veterinarian, the veterinarian application program 112 can communicate automatically with the transceiver of the animal owner's device 104 to obtain the appropriate data with the appropriate amount of detail.

The veterinarian application program 112 may implement suitable security protocols, such as requiring the veterinarian to enter login credentials, so as to appropriately limit access to animal welfare data.

As shown in Figure 1, server systems 106 may be arranged in communication with a browser web server 114 and/or a mobile web server 116. Each of the browser web server 114 and/or the mobile web server 116 may be configured to interact with the vet devices 102, such as to accept user input (vet or administrator) and generate suitable displays to facilitate user interaction with the 112 veterinary application program. For example, the browser web server 114 and/or the mobile web server 116 may be configured to generate a window-metaphor based computer user interface on a screen of the veterinary device(s) 102 or display coupled to remote server systems 106, or browser web server 114 and/or mobile web server 116 can generate web pages that are rendered by a browser or application on veterinary devices 102. Vet devices 102 and browser web server 114 and/or mobile web server 116 may communicate with each other using a suitable encryption protocol, such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).

A method for collecting, processing, and displaying animal welfare data, eg, using the exemplary system and devices of Figure 1 is also provided, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The procedure may initially include receiving animal welfare data from one or more animal owners. For example, server systems 106 may receive animal welfare data from one or more animal owner devices 104, which may then be stored in databases 108.

Figures 14 and 15 illustrate an animal owner device 104 for collecting animal welfare data, in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure. Thus, as discussed above, the animal owner's devices 104 may be configured to collect animal welfare data, store the collected data in a memory, and send a fully verbose or less verbose version of the data to the systems. 106 remote server for storage in the databases 108 .

Animal welfare data processing may also include animal filtering based on animal profile information provided in the animal record, such as species, breed, etc. The method may further include, simultaneously or asynchronously from the processing of the animal welfare data, the receipt of a request for animal welfare data by a veterinarian. For example, a veterinarian may use a browser or other software installed on a veterinarian device 102 to generate a request for animal welfare data from the browser web server 114, mobile web server 116, and/or systems 106 from server. The veterinarian can generate the request simply by manipulating a user interface, such as touching a user element associated with an animal for which the veterinarian wishes to review animal welfare data. Alternatively, the veterinarian can request animal welfare data for all animal patients at the vet, or for all animal patients at the veterinary clinic. The procedure may also include modifying a display of animal welfare data based on information received from the veterinarian.

In one aspect, the veterinary interface can display, for each animal patient, how long the animal patient has been monitored by an animal owner's device 104 or animal device 101. For example, the veterinary interface may display a number of days or weeks associated with each animal patient, reflecting the number of days or weeks the animal patient has carried or been monitored by the device 104 or 101. In one aspect, the interface veterinarian may order or categorize a display of animal patients based on the number of days or weeks the animal patient has carried or been monitored by the device 104 or 106.

In addition, the veterinary interface can indicate an activity level associated with each animal patient. For example, each animal owner device 104 or animal device 101 may contain a GPS device, an accelerometer, and/or any other device that generates location, movement, or activity level data associated with a user. System 106 may process such received data to generate an activity level to be associated with the animal patient. The activity level can be a range, (for example, low, medium, high), a percentage of maximum or prescribed activity, a numerical value associated with the activity (for example, a rating or moving average), or an amount of time associated with the activity (for example, active for x of the last y hours). The veterinary interface can then sort or categorize a display of animal patients based on a determined activity level for each animal patient. Therefore, a veterinarian can easily view the veterinary interface to determine the relative or absolute activity levels of their animal patients to provide a better understanding of their overall health or well-being. In one embodiment, system 106 can generate alerts to send to veterinarians when an animal patient's activity level reaches a certain high or low threshold.

Additionally, interface 800 may indicate whether an animal patient is complying with a prescribed medication, treatment, activity, or other regimen. For example, system 106 can track each animal patient's compliance with a prescribed regimen, eg, through accelerometers or any other biocompatible sensor. The system 106 can then determine if an animal patient is complying with a regimen prescribed by the veterinarian, and if desired, generate one or more alerts to send to a veterinarian when an animal patient is not complying with their prescribed regimen. For example, system 106 may alert a veterinarian when the animal owner is not following a prescribed drug treatment program, diet program, and/or exercise program for the animal patient. It should be appreciated that the cues discussed above and related functionality (eg, medical device battery level/signal, patient device monitoring period, patient activity level, patient compliance, etc.) may be incorporated into any of the veterinary interfaces described in the present disclosure.

Figures 7 and 8 are screenshots of a veterinary interface for reviewing animal patient data, in accordance with an exemplary aspect of the present disclosure. Specifically, Figures 7 and 8 depict an interface that provides a detailed view of a veterinary interface for reviewing animal patient data. The veterinarian can switch from a detailed view of one animal patient to a detailed view of another animal patient by touching, swiping, or otherwise selecting one of the other animal patients displayed on the interface.

A remote animal health monitoring system may include a processor controlled by instructions stored in a memory. For example, the transceiver assembly may include and be controlled by one such processor, and the remote server may be controlled by another such processor. Memory can be a memory random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, or any other memory, or combination thereof, suitable for storing control software or other instructions and data.

Some of the functions performed by the remote animal health monitoring system have been described with reference to flowcharts and/or block diagrams. Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that functions, operations, decisions, etc. All or a portion of each block, or a combination of blocks, of the flowcharts or block diagrams may be implemented as computer program instructions, software, hardware, firmware, or combinations thereof.

Those skilled in the art will also readily appreciate that the instructions or programs defining the functions of the present invention can be delivered to a processor in many forms, including, but not limited to, information stored permanently on non-recordable storage media (for example, read-only memory devices within a computer, such as ROM, or devices readable by a computer I/0 element, such as CD-ROM or DVD disks), information stored in alterable ways on recordable storage media ( floppy disks, removable flash drives, and hard drives) or information transmitted to a computer over communication media, including a wired or wireless computer network.

In addition, while the invention may be implemented in software, the functions necessary to implement the invention may optionally or alternatively be implemented in part or in full using firmware and/or hardware components, such as logic. combinatorics, Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or other hardware or some combination of hardware, software and/or firmware components.

Claims (4)

1. A support system of a veterinary clinic, the system comprising: an electronic network (100); an animal device (101) carried by an animal and in communication with the electronic network (100), the animal device configured to collect welfare data from the animal and transmit the collected welfare data over the network (100) electronics; at least one veterinary device (102) in communication with the electronic network (100), the veterinary device (102) being configured to receive and display welfare data received or processed through the electronic network (100); wherein the veterinary device (102) comprises: a processor in communication with the electronic network (100) and controlled by a plurality of instructions stored in a memory, the memory being in communication with the processor, a display device in communication with the processor and having a graphical user interface on which a plurality of actionable icons (400) are displayed, the actionable icons (400) being associated with a plurality of business-related functions for the operation of a veterinary clinic, each icon (400) being actionable to access an associated portlet and display additional information associated with the respective function of a veterinary clinic in the graphical user interface, an animal segmentation module configured to filter and segment a plurality of individual animal records from an animal record database containing animal welfare data received from the device (104) of the animal owner, and a messaging module configured for a user to compose and send a message based on the segmented animal records; an animal owner device (104) in communication with the electronic network (100) and configured to send welfare data to the processor; characterized in that the animal device has a biocompatible sensor, and the welfare data collected from the animal is related to compliance with a veterinarian-prescribed regimen of a prescribed medication for the animal, in which the processor is configured to generate and send an alert to at least one veterinary device when the animal fails to comply with said veterinarian-prescribed regimen of prescribed medication. A system according to claim 1, wherein one of the icons (400) is configured to be visually distinguishable from the other icons (400) upon actuation. A system according to claim 1, further comprising a dashboard (210) configured to provide key performance indicators of the veterinary clinic. A system according to claim 3, wherein the dashboard (210) includes at least one indicia or graphical representation for displaying key performance indicator information.